


Hero’s Spirit

by slightlycrunchy



Category: Legend of Zelda, Linked Universe - Fandom, LinkedUniverse - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, it all works out, only a tad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 18:36:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21123389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slightlycrunchy/pseuds/slightlycrunchy
Summary: Whumptober 2019 piece for day 19, Asphyxiation!





	Hero’s Spirit

Block. Parry. Turn. Duck. Move his feet. Left, back, pause....*clang*. 

Time met the Moblin’s gaze between their entangled blades, shooting daggers with that one look only he could give. Having only one good eye almost made it more effective. 

~~~~~~~~~

It had been a peaceful morning somewhere in Wild’s Hyrule. The sun was shining warmly on their backs, the grass waving as if to say hello in the morning breeze. 

Four and Wind were walking side by side on the path swapping opinions on their number one breakfast foods, while Sky, Warriors, and Twilight were debating the best hold for a sword. 

“You’ve got to hold it high on the hilt, there’s no other way,” Warriors said in earnest. “That’s fine but backing off just a tad keeps those vibrations from your opponent from shaking your bones.”, Twilight interjected. Sky looked thoughtful between them, agreeing fully with both of his friend's viewpoints. 

Hyrule and Legend were keeping silent company, letting their eyes roam around them as they enjoyed a moment of peace. Goodness knows they don't get many of those. 

Time walked beside Wild as he led them along, forging their path expertly. Dueling Peaks stable, that's where he had said they were heading. ”Should arrive late afternoon, just in time for a warm meal and a comfy bed,” he had said. 

Wild had offered to teleport them with his slate but from the mixture of startled and miserable looks he had received, he guessed not. *Wow, they really do not like that* he thought to himself with a barely discernible smile. 

Time looked over at his companion. His electric blue eyes were trained on his slate, finger roving through his items and muttering under his breath about something he couldn't quite make out. 

At that moment Time felt an overwhelming sense of happiness. In the beginning, Wild had been so wary of them all. As tense as a taught bowstring at all times, keeping his distance from all but Twi. And Time understood why. As the weeks and months wore on he learned about Wild’s memory loss, the fractured life that he had lived and was still. 

In a way, he could relate. 

But now Wild was truly one of them. He could still be a bit standoffish at moments but overall he welcomed them. And this gave Time an unexpected sort of...pride. 

All of this passed through his mind as he glanced at Wild. He must have been wearing an unusual face because when Wild turned to him, after feeling like he was being watched, his own face scrunched up, flushed, he stuttered out, ”w-what?” 

Time realized what he had done and gave a slight smile, ”nothing, cub.” before turning his head back to their path. 

Dueling Peaks. A sight to behold. Time smiled as he saw the reactions on the others’ faces. Wind literally jumped for joy, unable to contain his enthusiasm. The others mostly did entire 360’s, taking in everything their eyes could feast upon. 

”I guess I have gotten used to it, but I suppose it is pretty awesome,” Wild trailed off. He stopped suddenly, moving his arm horizontally, meaning to bring them to a halt. 

”What is it?”, Time whispered as he came to halt beside him. ”Enemy camp. Bokoblins.”, Wild responded. Ahead, directly on their path to the stable was a camp of bokoblins, mostly red and blue, but a white as well. ”He’ll be tricky...”, mumbled Wild to himself. 

Alongside their right side rushed a river, the current undeniably powerful. ”Best avoid that, “, Wild said with a glance to Time. Time agreed. Armor and water do not mix after all. 

“What should we do?”, Twilight interjected having joined them in the front. 

“This really shouldn’t be too difficult, barring the white one. They always give me hell.”, Wild said with a side glance at Twi. Twi nodded, knowingly. “It helps to get some ranged attacks going to weaken him first, then a head-on attack while he’s down, ” added Wild.  
”Noted.” said Twilight. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

*Where the hell had this moblin come from* was all that Time could keep thinking. Moblins when you're prepared? Not an issue. Difficult at times? Yes. But a surprise Moblin? Not ok. The red and blue had taken more out of them than they had expected, probably due to sheer numbers, and the white was a pain in the ass. 

Warriors was currently assisting Hyrule who had gotten injured, a wrist injury. Might be small but holding a sword with a hurt wrist is...difficult at best. Many of the others had minor to moderate cuts and bruises, except for Twilight who definitely had a broken rib from an intense kick from the moblin. 

Even with the said injury, Twilight provided back up ranged attacks to Wild, who was currently fighting the white bokoblin. Time had been assisting, until a certain white moblin jumped from the cliff above to join the fight. 

”Do they always do that?!”, he shot out breathlessly toward Wild, genuinely wanting an answer. “I’ve never seen it happen before!”, Wild yelled back in between preventing his own head being chopped off. Just like all the monsters they had been encountering lately, these enemies were intense, strong. 

And so here they were, battling. Time and his enemy, matching blow for blow. These hyped-up monsters were no joke, and a white enemy in Wild’s Hyrule was a bad time waiting to happen. The monster kicked a leg out, the same one that injured Twilight minutes before, but that was predictable now. Time knew to watch for that. He jumped out of the way, brandishing his sword in retaliation, swinging for his enemy’s torso. He made contact, if only leaving a shallow mark. 

~~~~~~~~~

Twilight was suffering. With every movement no matter how small, his rib, the disjointed pieces pierced his organs. Every drawback of his bow felt like agony, his face in a permanent grimace as he tried to pretend everything was fine. They needed him. He was the only support. Everyone else was too exhausted or injured to jump back into battle. He pulled his bow. A bomb arrow ready to let fly, they worked best after all, Wild had said. Like a fresh dagger to his body, pain enveloped him; involuntarily he yelled and flinched, letting go too soon the arrow. 

~~~~~~~~

Time caught it out of the corner of his eye. A flaming spark, too near Wild who was currently on the defensive from his enemy. He only had a moment to feel a pang of dread before a fire burst forth from the ground, enveloping Wild and his attacker. 

Time, as well as his adversary, flinched from the heat and sound. Time took this opportunity to flee from where he was, running toward Wild. 

He had been flung several feet, flesh and clothing smoking, hair singed. His eyes were closed, a face that would look peaceful if not for the circumstances. Pink skin tinged black covered his right arm, blood seeping from patches of open wound covering his forearm. Along with his singed bangs laying awkwardly across his face was a trail of blood, from somewhere along his temple. *A concussion no doubt* thought Time. 

He laid his hand on Wild’s left cheek, tapping gently. “Wild! Wild!” No response. He looked over to see Twilight absolutely horrified, all the while grasping where he had been injured, a pained grimace on his face. 

Time knew it was an accident, but he hoped they would make it out alive to laugh at it later. 

No sooner had he had this thought than he felt an animal-like hand grab him entirely around the waist. 

Before he knew it, he was lifted in the air, very much looking at the tips of the dueling peaks. *Was he....upside down?* Before he could fully formulate the thought, he was most certainly flying through the air. 

~~~~~~~~

Twilight looked on in horror as, while Time was analyzing Wild’s condition, the Moblin ran at him from behind. Twilight tried to call out, but the pain in his body drowned out any sound other than an entirely guttural gasp. 

Which turned to no sound at all when he saw what happened next. After grabbing him, as if he were a small stone not unlike the ones Twi used to skip across the pond back in Ordon, he proceeded to throw Time over his shoulder, soaring through the air at a great height. Only to land in the swift, deep, river rushing through the pass. 

~~~~~~~~

He only had a quick glance at the water before he was plunged headfirst into the cold abyss. 

Time was a good swimmer. A great swimmer. He tackled the water temple after all. But 20lbs of armor, as well as shoes and clothing besides, took its toll before he even began. 

He never thought he could sink so fast. The light was fading almost immediately as he sank, the cold numbing his mind. Finally a thought came together, *I have to get this armor off.* His breath was already beating at his lungs to escape. He moved his hands to the buckles by his side, an awkward angle even on land. But between the cold numbing his fingertips and the swift current tumbling him along, he was not having much success. 

He couldn’t see much due to the dark, but what he could was beginning to blur. His lungs screamed at him for relief, blood pounding in his ears and head. He was losing hope, thoughts of his friends....his brothers flashing through his mind. Malon...he would never see her again...

*No. I will not give up this easily-* he thought with determination, before his back slammed against an underwater boulder, jagged and scraping. The little air he had left escaped his lungs in one enormous guttural cough, and against his will, he breathed in the cold hatred of the swirling prison he was in. 

The shock of the absence of air radiated through his body, causing him to convulse and cough, only leading to more water pouring into him. *This is it* passed through his foggy mind, his last bit of strength leaving him. The last thing he remembered was reaching his achingly frozen hand towards what he believed was the surface, reaching for something, somebody, anything...

~~~~~~~~~~

A grapple hook clung to his form before it was pulled with as much force as it’s wielder could muster, out of the rushing water onto the bank beside. 

Sky wielded it, collapsing as soon as the deed was done, exhaustion apparent. Twilight limped to his mentor's side, trying to ignore any pain in his own body. *There isn’t time* he thought to himself before dropping to his knees beside Time. 

He deftly undid the buckles to his armor, which he could see had been slightly tampered with, only worsening the pit of dread Twilight felt within himself. 

He removed the chest plate, and began pressing firmly and in rhythmic patterns on his mentor’s chest. 

“Time! Time! Come on old man!”, he yelled as he put forth all his strength to the movements. Goddess this hurt his ribs. But he’d be damned if that mattered right now. 

A minute passed with no success, the worried and tear-stained faces of their party crowding around their fallen leader. Wind was beside himself, terror written across his features, as Four held him close, a similar look colored his face. Warriors and Sky looked on earnestly as Twilight worked to bring back their friend from....death. Legend kneeled above Time’s head, ready to turn him to his side if he so happened to wretch the water from his lungs. 

Hyrule was with Wild, who was still unconscious, trying to heal his burns as best he could. 

“Time, please wake up.” Twilight was no longer yelling. It was only a quiet plea as he continued the movements, wishing for Time’s chest to stir in response. The rhythm he had been maintaining was slowing, unknown to him. He was trapped in his own thoughts, despair slowly starting to overtake him. 

“You can’t- leave....” Tears were falling freely from Twi’s eyes now. He looked at Time’s peaceful face. He lingered on his scarred eye, still not knowing the story behind it. He lifted his hands from the measured activity he had been doing, letting one hand rest on his mentor’s cheek, the other pushing his hair away from his face. He lowered his forehead to touch Time’s, needing the closeness he rarely got while he was....alive. 

Twilight wallowed in the feeling, needing to scar it forever upon his person. Like a battle wound he wanted to remember. He removed his face from its position but his hands remained. 

As they stared at their friend, their father figure, their mentor, they all began to accept the fate they had been dealt. They began to picture a life without, a journey still not over, bereft of his company. They all possessed the Hero’s Spirit, they would endure. It’s not as if they hadn’t experienced this pain before. They would accept, and move on...

A single eye opened, followed by a disturbing cough and gargle. The Hero’s Spirit would not be done away with so easily, it seemed.

**Author's Note:**

> This would not end. Also I’m still getting used to how to use this platform so....you’ll notice the discrepancies lol thank you for reading! Leave a comment if you have the time! ❤️


End file.
